Geraldo Rivera Blames Tequila for Naked Selfie

Geraldo Rivera, 70, just wanted to show the world he's as fit as ever.

But after the Geraldo at Large host showed off his physique Saturday in a risqué selfie on Twitter that just barely covered his private parts, his daughter and his network, Fox News, were not too happy.

Blaming tequila, which he says he usually doesn't drink, Rivera explained on Monday to New York's 95.5 PLJ Radio that he'd taken the photo earlier in the day and when he got home from a late night at work, "I had a couple of drinks ... It was 2:30 and I was like, 'Dammit, I like that picture.' I learned how to use Twitter a couple weeks ago and there I was. What a great idea."

Rivera woke up the next morning to a text from his 18-year-old daughter who messaged him in all caps: "TAKE THAT THING DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

Says Rivera, "My wife didn't know about it because we were sitting on the boat and people were coming over. And then she just heard from her friend in Chicago who works for Oprah. And the friend in Chicago, Robin, said, 'Whatever you do, honey, you've got to say that you're proud of your husband.' "

But it wasn't until a demand from his network that the TV personality knew he didn't have a choice but to remove the shot.

"I took it down the next day after I heard from Fox," he said. "I just heard from Fox to take it down. I haven't heard the next sentence yet."

Although the photo is now removed on Rivera's feed, chatter about it still remains.

"If my pix is so offensive to media critics, why do they keeping flashing the damn thing over & over?" he Tweeted on Monday. "Isn't this terrible? Let's see it again."